‘Honey Bun Bandit’ Struggles To Escape Casino Heist Past

BAY CITY, Mich. (CBS Local) — A Michigan woman known as the “Honey Bun Bandit” for her involvement in a 2003 casino heist says the crime continues to haunt her some 16 years later.

Bay City native Linda Stevenson was 21-years-old when she walked into the Grand Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, claiming the box she was carrying was a bomb that could be detonated by someone in the parking lot.

“My job was to go in there with a makeshift bomb. It wasn’t really a bomb. It was just an empty box of Honey Buns,” she told CBS affiliate WNEM.

Stevenson demanded the cashier, who was also in on the heist, fill her black bag with as much money as possible.

“We got away with $52,000,” she said.

Stevenson turned herself in to authorities after spending weeks on the run. She, along with several others, were charged in the casino heist. She plead guilty, served 36 months in a federal prison and paid $11,000 in restitution.

Stevenson, who bounces from job to job, is now able to laugh about eating a Honey Bun and sharing a piece with her emotional support monkey, Apollo.

“Sometimes it’s a fun story to tell but it sucks when I am trying to look for employment. A lot of places do background checks, and it shows armed robbery,” she said.

Stevenson said her past record won’t allow her to pursue her dream job of working with children.

“I was 21 years old, I am 37 now,” Stevenson said. “I made some dumb decisions and that was probably the stupidest one I’ve ever made. I am a good worker and I am a good person.”